August watched the beast intently until it took the very last breath, not wanting to be caught off guard by anything the beast could possibly have done.
When he was sure it was dead, he allowed himself to finally relax, though he did not have much time to do so.
He took a few deep breaths and began to debate with himself.
'Do i want to collect an aura mold from this thing?'
On one hand, August abhorred every last inch of the despicable creature. It was understandable, all things considered.
The beast had been a symbol of fear for him, it had systematically caused a series of events that led him to the position he was in now.
It first instilled awe in him on the day he first saw it, hulking and unmoving, a beast of true magnificence.
That awe soon turned into cruel horror as he watched the beast maul his only companion in the dark forest, which led him to his most regrettable action, running away.
The monstrous behemoth had dragged out even more anger when it returned to the area near the clearing, doing battle with the white lion and setting the dark forest ablaze in the process, although he was reluctant to pin the blame on the beast for the lion's means of attack.
Because of that battle, August had plunged into the wall of flame, being potentially permantly maimed in the process.
And during his confrontation with the behemoth, August found himself facing both strenuous exhaustion and injuries that could have easily been fatal. It would be no great stretch to say that he had won through the combined efforts of Alia, the white lion and himself.
Although, on the other hand, many good things had come from the rhinoceros' actions.
If the beast had not separated him and Alia, August would have never come to learn to appreciate the ecology of the new world. Though, it didn't seem like he was doing much of that now.
He would have never learned to navigate the dark forest, nor would he have had the courage to if he did.
If he had never grown hungry and scaled the black tree for food, August would not have encountered and killed the silver bear, sending him down the path to learn to suppress his fear.
He would have never witnessed the battle between apex predators, which allowed him to acquire the [White Lion's Legacy]
And now, he was standing over the dead body of his most powerful and hated adversary, he would be a fool not to take an aura mold from it.
"Tch, I'll add you to my arsenal, just so you can't pass on."
Holding out his hand and remembering the yellow mist, August began the process.
This time he didn't close his eyes– or eye. He believed he had more than enough focus to turn the beast into an aura mold without it.
A blinding light erupted from the beast's abdomen, and yellow and gray mist swirled out and into his palm, within a few seconds, August was holding an orb.
This one was a semi transparent gray, with a swirling red line pattern coating the exterior.
Learning his lesson by now, August willed the organizer to explain what this was.
The lavender screen popped up near instantly.
___
"Armored rhinoceros' legacy(Aura mold"
"This piece holds particular value to the collector, due to the difficulty of acquisition. Born from his hatred and malice, this piece is best suited for armor"
—-
August had his suspicions, but now one of them was confirmed.
The organizer seemed to refer to beasts by the name August himself had chosen for them. Which might have meant that these creatures had no name.
August was truly in a totally separated world from his own, and now it had finally started to set in.
Of course he had understood this fact, but it was only now that August truly began to consider himself an invasive species. After all, he had just slain one of the dark forest's Apex predators.
He held no doubt that in the future this would affect the ecosystem drastically, but right now he decided to simply relish in his victory.
Dismissing the orb and all his weapons, August shakily backed away from the corpse, then turned and began to walk away, leaning on the cave wall for support.
He had manage to keep going off sheer adrenalin. Now that it was all gone, he was fighting his final battle on two fronts.
He was fighting against against the drowsiness that threatened to overtake him, and he was losing miserably. But he was also fighting the eagerness he felt, to finally see Alia again.
He slowly made the trek towards the exit of the cave, marked by the most recent tracks of the now dead behemoth.
Within ten minutes, the entrance of the cave came into view.
Outside the cave, the night sky was pitch black, but far away, blue flames burned in the distance, illuminating the forest even where he was, moving slowly toward the cave from August's point of view.
In reality, those flames were being held back the dampened forestry and soaked ground.
He silently thanked the rain as he broke out of the luminous cave and into the dense first ahead.
There was no strength in his body left to run from the flames. If he had to, both he and Alia would die, quite painfully at that.
In regards to the red haired girl, she was leaning against a tree, looking away and muttering to herself. The soft blue glow of the distant flames subtly cradling her dirtied face.
As he approached, he heard more and more of Alia's ramblings.
"Piece of crap! I ran out of berries! If he was going to go get himself killed he could have at least left more of them! Now i have to die hungry!"
'For someone who's apparently beaten and starved, she seems quite energetic'
Relieved, August once again summoned a few clumps of berries in front of her. Causing the girl's neck to suddenly snap back and look at him.
He couldn't help but let a subtle smile creep onto his face.
"August! You did i-"
The girl paused in the middle of her sentence and studied him.
The first time they had met she most likely did not realize the magnitude of his injuries. Now however, he was illuminated by the faint blue light of the flame in the distance, and she could surely see it on display.
August had to admit that he was not in the best shape of his life at the moment. His long brown hair– which had grown considerably more than two months worth while he slept, had been burned away to just above his shoulders.
His eye was still glued shut by melted skin and ash. One of his arms dangled down, unusable, whilst the other was clearly dislocated at the shoulder. His body was riddled with burns that exposed his muscles, his clothes were almost burned away and he was covered in infected cuts, each pulsing with a different kind of puss.
Regardless of it all, he was still full of joy seeing his friend.
"See, I had it, told you so"
As soon as he got the words out, August succumbed to the exhaustion and collapsed.
Just for the night, he intended to sleep safely and for as long as he wanted.